[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 77 (Thursday, April 21, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23857-23858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-08477]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XB951]


Advisory Committee Open Session on Management Strategy Evaluation 
for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is holding a public meeting via webinar session for the 
Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to the International Commission 
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and all interested 
stakeholders to receive an update and provide input on the development 
of the management strategy evaluation (MSE) for Atlantic bluefin tuna.

DATES: A virtual meeting that is open to the public will be held by 
webinar session on May 2, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT.

ADDRESSES: Please register to attend the meeting at: https://forms.gle/NTH38FNaF6LY9iEV8. Registration will close on April 29, 2022, at 5 p.m. 
EDT. Instructions for accessing the webinar session will be emailed to 
registered participants.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryan Keller, Office of International 
Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, (202) 897-9208 or at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: MSE is a process that allows fishery 
managers and stakeholders (e.g., industry, scientists, and non-
governmental organizations) to assess how well different strategies 
achieve specified management objectives for a fishery. After several 
years of work, ICCAT expects to finalize its bluefin tuna MSE in 2022 
and anticipates adopting a management procedure in November 2022 to set 
Total Allowable Catch (TACs) for 2023 and future years for both the 
western Atlantic and eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stocks of 
bluefin tuna. NMFS and the United States more broadly participate in 
this MSE development process and have been engaging stakeholders and 
considering their input throughout the process through various means, 
including consultation with the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section 
to ICCAT. The United States also participates in the development of the 
bluefin tuna MSE through active engagement by U.S. scientists in 
ICCAT's Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS).
    The May 2 meeting is intended to update stakeholders and solicit 
their input on the MSE approach being developed by ICCAT. This includes 
SCRS progress in developing initial candidate management procedures 
(CMPs) illustrating potential management tradeoffs and the related 
process by ICCAT to refine management objectives to assist the SCRS in 
further refining and narrowing those CMPs. This open session Advisory 
Committee meeting is primarily informational in nature and intended to 
increase the opportunity for stakeholder awareness and input on the 
bluefin tuna MSE process. Discussions at the meeting will help to 
inform U.S. scientists who are participating in the work of the SCRS, 
and input provided during the meeting will be considered by the United 
States to assist its preparations for a 9-10 May 2022 meeting of 
ICCAT's Panel 2 and other ICCAT bluefin tuna MSE meetings planned for 
2022.
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.


[[Page 23858]]


    Dated: April 15, 2022.
Alexa Cole,
Director, Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-08477 Filed 4-20-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P